Last December I wrote about getting a text from a friend with his crazy Global Entry renewal story. He had to wait seven weeks to get an interview scheduled and then got grilled by CBP for thirty minutes about all of his travel. Yikes! That conversation got me thinking about my own, knowing it was up for renewal soon. I checked back in December, saw it expired in May, and noted on my calendar that I would need to start the renewal process early.
Well. All the best intentions aside, life/work/blah blah got in the way and I had it in my head that it expired in *June* so all would be fine for my trip last week. Uh, nope. It expired in May and I had to go through the regular security line. I was lucky, there wasn’t a long wait, so all is well. But I can tell you my heart dropped when I glanced at my boarding pass on the parking shuttle and saw no little “TSA Pre-check” symbol. Sigh.
ANYWAY. Renewing Global Entry or TSA Pre-check was a lengthy process initially, as there is a new website and you have to create a new account. Some people will certainly have to interview again, like my friend late last year. I did not have to interview–in fact it only took three business days to get reapproved. My number stayed the same and it was reinstated automatically. That being said, I had to check my account to see what the status was–I was never sent any notification either of expiration or that I was approved again.
Delightfully the $100 fee for my Global Entry renewal (including TSA Pre-check) will be reimbursed by my American Airlines Aviator Silver card. Although I found out that next year my company will also start reimbursing for GE, which I think makes a ton of sense. However even if you have to pay out of pocket (as I did five years ago) in my opinion it is completely worth it.
Tips for Global Entry Renewal:
That post last December had some helpful tips, which I’m reposting below.
- Check your status to know when your five years is up. There isn’t any kind of notification system in place, so you need to be clear on when your renewal is up.
- Start super early to allow extra processing time. He was given no indication of why it took so long to get approved for an interview. I’m not taking any chances, and will start my renewal in February.
- Print out or screenshot your appointment confirmation, just in case it gets lost.
- Expect the interview to start late and take a long time.
- Bonus: Check to see if any of your credit cards pay for Global Entry. My American Airlines Aviator Mastercard does!
Passports
ALSO: Regarding passports, as of this month, the minimum timeline given for standard processing is six to eight weeks, an increase of 50% over the previous processing period of four to six weeks. If you need expedited service you can pay a fee of $60, which cuts your time in half to two to three weeks. I renewed mine a few years ago during another delay-prone period, paid the expedite fee, and got everything back in less than two weeks. It was well worth it for the peace of mind, but if you’ve got the time renew early!
My entire family is going on a cruise next January, and none of my kids have passports. I SWEAR I am going to start the process for them no later than September. You guys are hearing it here first! <<Scribbles furiously in calendar in the correct month for once>>
Readers, anyone renew a passport lately? How long did it take? Any other experiences with Global Entry renewal?
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Global entry renewal application submitted 5/10/19. Once signed on, my account shows “Pending Review.” Curious about others wait time.
My passport was received in one day. I had an emergency trip to Canada. So I headed up to Detroit to the passport office and had it in about 4 hours. On the way back into the States. I had my interview for Nexus which comes with Global entry for 50 bucks.
I fly maybe once or twice a year. But I signed up for Nexus just to get across the border quicker if I cross at Detroit.
Global Entry can be renewed as early as one year prior to expiration. I recommend anyone whose card expires in the second half of the year to go through the renewal process early in case another government shut down brings things to a halt.
I renewed recently (about 7 months ahead of expiration). For 2 weeks there was not action on my renewal according to the website. Then at the beginning of the third week, I saw that my renewal had gone through without the need for me to go in for an interview (yay!). I also got my updated card later that week.